Page 28 of No, You Hang Up

He lunges at me, tackling me down and causing a yelp to escape my lips as, once more, my back hits the bed hard. His fingers twist into my shirt, and before I can even consider doing something like fighting him, he’s ripped it off over my head, leaving me in my bralette.

“Pretty, pretty girl,” Huxley praises, shoving me down with his hand splayed on my chest. “I could mark you up, you know. Make you remember me for the rest of your life.”

My stomach jolts at that, and my eyes dip automatically to the knife at his belt before I can stop myself.

His brows jerk upward when he sees where my gaze goes, and with his free hand, Huxley releases the blade from its sheath, brandishing it in front of me. “Oh, I just meant biting you and sucking hickeys onto that pretty skin.” He chuckles. “But that’s not what you thought I meant. You thought…” He carefully and oh so slowly brings the point of the blade down to my sternum, just below where his hand is resting.

Immediately I freeze. I can’t even breathe with the point of the knife there, and everything in me feels like I’m paralyzed.

“Please don’t,” I murmur, my lips barely moving. “Huxley?—”

“Don’t what?” he chuckles. “Don’t draw pretty patterns on your skin? Hmm?” He drags the blade down my chest, dipping between my breasts under the thin fabric of my bralette. “Let’s see.” He jerks the blade outward, catching the fabric. I hear it tear along the blade, and a sound of frustration bubbles to my lips.

“Stop!” I protest, but I don’t move except to twist my hands in the sheets under me. I’m too afraid of shoving at him or trying to get him off of me. I’m terrified he’ll slip, whether on purpose or by accident, and at the very least I’ll be a bleeding mess on my bed.

“Why?” He continues to pull the fabric tight, the fibers tearing apart on the edge of the blade.

“Because I fucking like this bra!”

“Oh,”he drawls, lazily looking up to meet my eyes. “Well, if that’s the case.” He twists the blade and jerks outward, tearing the fabric enough that he can reach up with his other hand and rip it the rest of the way apart down the middle amidst my yelp of disapproval.

“Anyway…back to the important part. Ah!” He pushes me back down when I move to sit up, straddling me with a hand at the base of my throat. “No, you stay there. And consider where you want to put your hands. I have a knife, and you don’t.”

But the only thing Iconsideris how to hit him and where I’ll do the most damage. Balling my right hand into a fist, I lash out at Hux, just for him to catch me by my wrist with a click of his tongue. “Predictable…” He sighs as he shoves the knife back into his belt. “And I was going to be so nice. I was going to give you a chance to be good for me. But then again, I sort of love that about you, Kai.”

“That I’m fully ready to break your nose?”

“That you’re like a cornered animal, always ready to bite back for your freedom. No matter how stupid it may be.” I hear the clink of metal, but I’m only confused for a moment before Huxley dangles a pair of handcuffs in front of me. “Nah-ah-ah.” He grins when I writhe under him in earnest, and it’s not as difficult as it should be for him to twist my hands behind me, no matter how hard I try to stop him.

Metal slides around my wrists, and Huxley growls against my face as he closes the cuffs, trapping my hands behind my back and leaving me without a way to fight him off.

Suddenly, I feel even more vulnerable than I did when he drugged me two nights ago. I twist and wriggle while he watches, and when Huxley leans down with his mouth only inches from mine, I go against my instinct to let him kiss me, even though I know how good at it he is.

Instead, I snap my teeth together inches away from his lips with a low growl, like the wild animal he claims I am. Hux laughs, the sound surprised and enthusiastic, and his hand comes back to press me down flat again.

“My little bunny has quite the snarl, doesn’t she?” he teases condescendingly, causing my stomach to twist from something other than fear. “She wants me to think she’s not justprey. Too bad for you, little bunny. You can’t fool me with that. Not when I’ve seen much scarier things than you. Now where were we?”

The knife is in his hand again, and once more I freeze as the blade touches my skin. “Where would I put my initials, hmm?” he asks, though I’m certainly not about to answer that question. I tremble under him, and everything in my body feels tight and on edge.

Butfuck, I’d be lying if I pretend it’s not arousing as hell. Heat pools between my thighs, and something curls alongside the fear in my belly. My breath catches as he drags the blade down my chest and between my breasts, only to trace along them with the knife.

“Don’t…” I whisper, my eyes on his. He looks so terrifying like this, with his eyes dark and focused. His lips are very slightly parted, and I swear I can hear his breathing in the silence of my room.

“It doesn’t hurt as bad as you think,” Huxley purrs. “I bet you wouldn’t notice it at all with my fingers in your greedy pussy. But I don’t think I’d do it here, anyway.” Before I can even consider what he’s saying, Hux moves to sit beside me, easily yanking my shorts and underwear off of me and leaving me absolutely bare to him once more, save the handcuffs.

I can’t hold still with my entire body on display for him. Every inch of me feels like it’s burning, and I can absolutely feel him just looking at me as he smooths one hand down my thigh. “No point in being modest, Kai.” He chuckles darkly. “I’ve seen it all before. Touched every inch of you when you couldn’t even consider defending yourself or hiding from me. I know your body intimately.”

“God, that doesn’t make this better,” I mutter. “That makes you sound like a creep.”

“Maybe I am.” He doesn’t seem upset at all by the insult. “But it’s better than killing you, I think. From my perspective, anyway. But if you think getting murdered by me is better than?—”

“No.” I cut him off nervously, shaking my head. “No, I—I don’t want to die, Hux.” I lift my knee, and to my surprise, his grip urges my leg up and over his hip.

“Well, duh. No one really wants to die.” He rolls his eyes at me and taps the flat of the blade against my stomach to make me flinch. “But that’s not the question here, remember? We’re trying to decide where I’d carve my initials into this pretty, pale skin.” With his free hand, he pushes my thighs wide around his knees, his gaze dipping down to where I’m completely bare to him.

My insides twist, and I can’t help but squirm in the cuffs, pulling at them until the metal bites into my wrists and a soft sound of protest leaves me at the sharp, almost pain.

“Well, if you wouldn’t wiggle, they wouldn’t hurt.” He presses his hand against my inner thigh, his eyes on mine while he does. “I think I’ll do it here.”

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